


Chasing Moonlight

by valiantprincex



Category: Orphan Black (TV)
Genre: Multi, this is kinda my baby
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-30
Updated: 2014-07-30
Packaged: 2018-02-11 01:15:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2047626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/valiantprincex/pseuds/valiantprincex
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Because everyone loves teenage werewolves. Cosima/Tony brotp for life. Felony kind of. Guest appearances by Sarah Manning, Beth Childs, my interpretation of lycanthropy, Alison Hendrix, and others. </p><p>This is my baby. One shot(kinda) but may evolve to something more.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Chasing Moonlight

**Author's Note:**

> ~My first attempt at(kind of) humor.
> 
> ~The longest thing I've ever written yet so bear with me
> 
> ~I really don't know about the title

****

**Part 1: Bitten**

        It was, Tony thought, a truly perfect storm of events. Looking back, he could see the signs, but at the time nothing seemed out of place. 

~*~

_I don’t wanna go to English today Tony._

_Cool then, lets go to my house._

_Oh yea I also scored some weed, wanna smoke some?_

_Sure, where’d you get it?_

_Oh I stole it from Sarah, lets hope she doesn't notice._

_Are you sure she won’t?_

_Oh yea, it’ll be fine._

_..._

_Owwww_

_I think Sarah had a bad stash Tony._

_Damn strait._

_..._

_I’m hungry Cosima, lets go get some food._

_Sure Tony, let’s go._

_Gas Station?_

_Yeah._

_…_

_Wait Tony did you steal those chips?_

_Uh, maybe. I got the wrong ones though._

_..._

_Oh look Tony, there’s a really big dog over there, let’s go poke it with sticks._

_Lets throw the chip bag at it!_

_That sounds like a really good idea._

_No wait it’s running away with the food. Lets chase it! Come back doggy!_

_Stand back Tony, I’ma throw this rock at it._

_AHHHH wait no its coming toward us!_

_WAIT NO IT”S LIKE REALLY REALLY FAST._

_OWWWWWWWWW_

_BAD DOG!_

_COSIMA! I need HELP!_

_Should I still try to grab the chips?_

_NO!_

~*~

        And now here he was, three o’clock in the fucking morning, sitting in Cosima Niehaus’ basement with a truly spectacular bite mark on his calf. “Are you totally sure I won’t get rabies?”

        “Uh, no, because that usually takes two to eight weeks to show, but like, I’m pretty sure the dog wasn’t foaming at the mouth or anything. Like, it looked pretty healthy. It was running fine and everything. I mean you should probs get tested anyway”. She lay on the couch, composing a truly scathing note to Sarah about her weed quality. Earlier, after their high had run it’s course, she had doused the bite in alcohol, causing pain to a degree Tony didn’t believe was possible before rifling through her medicine cabinet and emerging proudly with a case of bandages. 

        “Very reassuring,” Tony sighed, “lets just hope it isn’t rabies. I ain’t going to any doctor.”

        Cosima rolled over, “Fine. But don’t blame me when you end up trying to bite everyone’s limbs off. Okay. So should I use ‘travesty’ or ‘disappointment’?”

        “Context?” He wasn’t one for words, but that weed was really, really bad.

        “Uh… ‘The high caused by your utterly disappointing contraband was a travesty-or disappointment unto stoners everywhere.”’

        “Travesty. Has a better ring to it.” 

“Nice. See? You can do words”

        “Wouldn’t it just be better to  not tell Sarah? Hope she doesn’t notice?” Pissing off Sarah Manning was something that Tony put high up on his list of  _Bad and/or Very Unwise Things to Do That Could Be Very Detrimental To Your Health._

        “No,” Cosima stated adamantly, “We gotta  _educate_ the masses, you know, teach them that if you’re gonna have bad weed you have to, like, at least make it harder to steal.” 

        He shifted, sitting up. “I should probably be going it’s like what, one?”

        “Uhhhhh, three thirty. That an issue?”

        “Nah. Where's my jacket?” 

        “I think you left it at the thing. The dog stole it.”

        “Damn. Okay, see you later.” He exited as gracefully as he could, calf twingeing every other step. He exhaled as the early morning air hits his skin. He could go home. Or he could go get his jacket. The night was almost as bright as day, the full moon floating in the sky like a graceful weather balloon. As he limped toward the gas station the pain  seemed to disappear, and his legs felt like springs as he meandered his way through town. The lights of the gas station seemed unnaturally bright in the darkness, and as he approached the counter sparks seemed to warm his calf and expand like tiny bolts of lightning. The cashier was different from earlier, (good thing too, the other one did not approve of their state of consciousness) and younger than Tony, with dark hair swept up in front of his eyes. Cute. “Hey, did anyone leave a jacket here? Or find one? ‘Cause I was here earlier and lost mine…”

        “I didn’t see one, what’d it look like?” The boy seemed on edge, though that might simply be the late hour. He spoke with a british lilt to his voice, it reminded Tony of Sarah, though much more refined. Double cute.

        “Um, it was blue, with like an orange thing on the shoulders…” Tony switched his weight from left to right as mild disappointment washed over him. His favorite jacket. 

        “Did it have your name in it?”

        “Yeah”

        “Just write it down and a phone number and if we find it we can give it back to you,” the boy pulled out a paper and pen. His hands fumbled slightly with the items, like he didn’t quite remember how to hold them.

        “Okay,”  _Tony Sawicki, 324-6210_.  Cosima wouldn't mind if he put her number.

        The cashier looked from Tony, to the name written, and back again. “So…”

        He tensed, eager to escape “Cool, thanks, uh…”

        “Felix”

        “Cool thanks Felix” Tony turned on his heel, the door swinging shut fast behind him.

        Felix looked after him, reaching under the counter to pull out a blue jacket with orange shoulders. He checks the tag before stuffing it into a dark green backpack and flipping off the lights in the gas station, closing down for the night. Walking out, he turned the sign to _Closed_ as he opened a pack of chips, popping them into his mouth as he walked along the moonlit road. He paused at the intersection and looked about cautiously as he slid into the shadows.

        Five minutes later, a large animal loped away from the station and into the night.

~*~

Turns out, sneaking into your second floor bedroom is  _hard_ with a messed up leg. The sparks that sped his step earlier seemed to have completely abandoned him, leaving Tony chilled to the bone and trying in vain to climb a tree. He grit his teeth, and pushed up, relying on his arms for support. Finally reaching the window, he reached out gingerly,  _don’t wake the Mom and Dad_ and with significantly less grace than usual he tumbled onto the floor. He paused, listened for a response, but the house remained silent. Ninja skills. 

He didn't turn on the light before slipping out of his t-shirt and binder, taking a deep breath of cool night air and closing the window soundlessly. The curtains were open however, and the moonlight cuts an arc of light onto him; in the moment before he slammed the them shut he felt something that warmed him from the pit of his being.

_ _

_Interlude 1: Sarah Manning and the Bad Stash of Weed_

 __

        “You  _stole_ it?”

        “Uh… so technically I  _borrowed_ it, then realized it was non-returnable?” Cosima was realizing that Sarah did, indeed, care about the disappearance of her weed. The strongly worded letter lay crumpled at the bottom of the cafeteria trash can. Cosima wasn't even sure that Sarah bothered to read past the first line. Rude.

        “Damn it Cos,  _I_ stole that from _Vic_ , I was gonna sell it.” Sarah paced back and forth, her recent breakup still vivid in her memory.

        “Ah. Well. We’ve saved you a disappointed customer?” Cosima sounded like she was trying to appear apologetic, but her insistence on popping ollies on her skateboard at the same time made her apology rather blatantly insincere.

        Sarah sighed in frustration, “Hope your high was shitty.”

        “It was, actually, Tony here got bitten by a dog”

        “ _You_ were the one who wanted to poke it!” Indignant, Tony continued, “It was a  _really_ big dog Cos, how could you think that was a good idea?”

        “Hey, hey, you seem to be avoiding rabies so far so it’s all good yeah?” Cosima’s cool nonchalance would have been reassuring, had she not gotten a glimpse of that new foreign exchange student and completely lost her footing, spilling onto the ground. “Gotta go, sorry bye!”

        “That girl owes me,” Tony grinned, “so how’s life Sarah?”

        “I’m still mad about that weed. Also- Oh shit.  _Oh shit_ Vic’s here.” Had the situation not been so dire Tony would have laughed as Sarah did her best to hide behind him. 

        “He can’t even  _see_ us, besides- hey wait why does he have stitches?” Tony paused, craning his neck to get a better view.

        “Ashtray. No time to explain. Gotta go,” Sarah dashed out the back of the cafeteria, vaulting over the trash can with uncanny grace that only comes at the sight of one’s ex that one recently stole drugs from after breaking up with via hitting with an ashtray. Vic looked around, and having lost sight of whatever he was looking for swiped an apple off some kid’s tray and exited the way he had come.

        “Hallo.” 

        Tony jumped at the sound, “Shit Helena, don’t sneak up on me like that.”

        “Where is Sarah?” She asked, her head cocking slightly, “I ‘ave an extra bowl of Jell-O for us to share.”

        Tony shifted nervously, “Uh she went that way,” he pointed out the door, “don’t know where she was going though.” Helena fixed him with a long, hard, unblinking stare and turned, slowly walking out the door.

** **

**Part 2: The Lost Jacket**

 ****

        The weeks passed without great fanfare, and Tony almost forgot the bite. The memory was overshadowed by ordinary things and other random happenings; from stupid shit like Cosima locking herself out of the house when her parents were out of town to arguments with his parents that made him want to overthrow the world. 

        Tony stole test answers from a uptight girl with a bob. He and Cosima got lost in SF. Sarah Manning dropped out of Ceramics 101. He bought a new jacket. Late nights to early mornings at Cosima’s house(her parents _never_ checked the liquor cabinet). Some nerd named Scott tried to get him to play Rune Wars. On a school trip Helena spent too long in the gift shop, causing the bus to drive off without her. 

        That was why he was surprised when almost two months after the bite incident, Cosima asked him how he knew a Felix. “I don’t, why?”

        “Because he called me saying that they finally found your jacket. Remember? Works at the gas station?” She fiddled with the wheels of her skateboard and set it on the ground.

        “Oh yea,” it took a moment for him to remember. Tony was surprised, it’s not like he actually expected it to show up after  almost _two months_.  “I gave him your number.”

        “That, at least, is obvious. He was a bit surprised to have girl respond.” She paused, turning to face him, “ I think he might have thought I was your  _girlfriend_ . He sounded jealous.” 

        Tony could feel a blush creeping onto his face, “What’d he want?”

        “Uh, to give you back your jacket, obvs,” she grinned, pushing off the curb, “and also probably bang you into next year.” Laughing as she speeds away, Cosima yelled back, “Jump on it, like, he totes has a thing for you!”

        He shook head and turned back toward the school. He didn’t know what hours Felix worked at the station, and he didn’t have a number to call. Tony caught a glimpse of long brown hair, “Hey Sarah! What’re you doing for the next eleven hours?”

~*~

        _Lets hope to something_ Tony thought, as he stomped along the cold morning streets. The gas station glimmered softly in the distance, a lone truck parked in the lot. The night was dimmer than it was the last time he came this way, the moon just days away from being full again. The stars gleamed softly, and again he felt a tug in the pit of his gut, a slow steady warmth that began in his left leg and spread. The more he walked, the stronger the feeling got. His palms started to itch, the back of his neck prickling. A garbage can shifted behind him, the noise like a gunshot and he turned, suddenly,  seeing the flash of a black tail disappear behind a building. His feet twitched, told him to  _run_ but then, as suddenly as flipping a switch, the feeling was gone. The chilly air hit him like a bucket of ice water and he shouldered on, the gas station now sparking impossibly far away.

        He entered, the door chiming, announcing his presence in a way that raised the hair on his arms and caused the base of his spine to tingle with unease. There was no one at the counter, and as he stepped forward the shadow of a tall boy with sweeping hair moved in the doorway behind him. Tony whirled around, but as soon as their eyes met Felix slipped out the door, his shirt covered by a jacket. Tony’s jacket.

        “Hey!” Tony jogged out, looking around, “I thought you wanted to get that back to me?” Felix was standing by the truck, but again ran as soon their eyes met. “You bein’ coy now or something?” He followed however, and found Felix standing behind the gas station, in the alleyway wedged between the dumpsters. He didn’t run this time though, and so Tony asked, “Can I have my jacket back?”

        “How’s life?”

        “What.”

        “How’s life.”

        “Dude. Not a way to start a conversation. Also, Where’d you find it?”

        “It’s not easy to explain.”

        “I think It’s very easy to explain. You stole my jacket and are now being a total asshole about it.” Tony was on the offense, because hey, _if you let them push you to being defensive you’ve already lost._ Sure the kid is cute but- “What’da you want? It’s pretty obvious you wanted to see me, so now here I am, behind a gas station, in the cold, at unholy-as-fuck o’clock and-”

      _Crack._

        Tony’s eyes widened at the sound, like the snap of a whip. Felix hunched over, hands balling into fists, “I mean, how are you feeling?” His teeth were gritted, voice straining and rolling off his tongue like a growl.

        “Lousy. And what the fuck? Are you having some kind of attack?”

        “Of a sort. No infection?” His voice was lowering, roughening, like water over loose stones.

        “No...why?”

        “The bite. Any infection from the  _bite_ ” On the word  bite  Felix’s head snapped suddenly to the side, neck craning back.

        “What bite? I didn’t get-” Oh.  _Oh_.  “No, it’s fine and...wait. How did you know...” More than  mildly freaked, Tony continued, “Just let me know If you’re gonna pull a knife on me or some shit, ‘cause I don’t wanna end up in your lunch tomorrow…” 

        Felix’s breath was coming faster, fingers curling, one hand pushing his hair back with such force it seemed like his head was going to explode. He took a deep breath, then another, then another. His eyes burned dangerously, but in an instant the fire was gone, and he was once again lounging casually against the dumpster. “That’s good. No infection is good. And you’ve been okay for the past two months? No random blackouts or anything?”

        “Dude. Not three seconds ago you looked like you were about to have some kind of seizure. Now you’re cool as a cucumber. And it ain’t really your business is it?” Tony smirks, “If you wanna get me in bed, this is not the way to do it. I prefer drinks and flowers. Maybe a movie or two. Smoke a joint together. Read me a bedtime story.”

        “I bit you.”

        “What?”

        “I bit you”

        “I got bit by a dog. I mean, Sarah’s weed was shitty, but not _that_ shitty. You don’t have teeth like that. Also it definitely had four legs.”

        “It’s hard to explain.”

        “Again with the ‘it’s hard to explain’  _bullshit_ , it’s not that fucking hard to expl-”

        “It’s hard to explain because people don’t believe. I’ll show you.”

        _Crack_.  The whip sounded again, Felix stretched his back, flexing his fingers. He rolled his head on his shoulders, craning it left and right, and with each movement came a sound like snapping ice. He continued to stretch as Tony watched, fascinated, as he paced around until he was standing at the alley entrance. Tony had just enough time to think  _Oh shit I’m boxed in_ , and wait, _was Felix_ _taking off his clothes_ ? “Dude. Dude. Whoah. Hold up. Remember? Flowers and a movie or it’s not a deal…”

        “Shut up.” His voice was like metal on stone, so different from the light lilt Tony was used to. His knees buckled underneath him, hands slamming on the rough concrete, fingers snapping and twitching.

        It was over almost as soon as it began, though Tony remained trance like, hypnotized as where Felix had been standing not  _five minutes_ prior there was a sleek black dog. No. Not a dog. Wolf. A big wolf. A very  _familiar_ wolf. “Well shit. I guess trying to explain it would’ve been hard.”

        Felix looked at him, one long hard stare, before picking up his clothes and padding back into the station. A few quiet cracking sounds followed by the rustling of cloth and he returned, his face slightly flushed. He had Tony’s jacket slung over his right arm, and as he approached he held it out, like a peace offering. “I bit you. And we need to talk.”

_ _

_Interlude 2: Helena and the Gift Shop: A Tragic Tale Of Woe (Ending in a Very Broke Sarah and a Very Happy Helena)_

 __

        School trip. They’re  rare, field trips stopped being a regular thing around middle school, and are a breath of fresh air when granted to the highschoolers. This was why they are all surprised to hear that the biology classes were going to the aquarium to celebrate the end of the fall semester. The rules were simple: If one got a B average or higher one was expected to go and have fun, any lower and one was presented with a myriad of assignments to complete such as writing a report on a randomly designated sea creature. Cosima Niehaus took that as the opportunity to get high during a school sanctioned event(she was one of the only students not saddled with a mountain of extra work), all while spouting facts and statistics in an attempt to impress Delphine, the foreign exchange student.

        Tony and Sarah however took the time to be absolute terrors, throwing their assignments into the stingray pool, drawing mustaches and glasses on the model sea turtles, hiding from security, and shoplifting candy bars from the gift shop. They were eventually found together sharing a joint by the large model whale that doubled as a play structure and sent back to stew in the bus for the duration of the trip.

        Alison Hendrix threw an absolute fit when she found out that in order to complete her assignment she was required to spend more than ten minutes in the underground shark tunnel. Beth Childs offered to stay down with her, despite not having to do an assignment of her own, which seemed to solve the issue, though the memory of Alison’s hysteria will be forever ingrained into the minds of the unfortunate aquarium personel who happened to be staffing the tunnel that day.

        Helena was having a ball. The fish(both big and small) didn’t seem to mind when she leaned in close, breath fogging the glass. The stingrays simply flicked their fins lazily when she ran her hands down their backs. The turtles swam gracefully, sometimes even looking back at her. And the gift shop. Not only did it have stuffed versions of the creatures she was so fascinated by,  it had candy. Candy that was shaped into a colorful assortment of dolphins, fish, sharks, and whales. Candy on sticks, in bags. Candy packaged in every way possible. Candy with real scorpions in it. Helena explored every corner of the store, before sitting herself down in the corner to read a book about a whale getting beached, but eventually somehow making it’s back into the ocean.

        At the end of the day the chaperones, totally exhausted from apprehending Tony and Sarah, from apologising to the aquarium staff, from tracking down Cosima and Delphine, from trying to calm Alison’s shark panic, managed to pile everyone back onto the bus. Well, not  _everyone_. Helena had finished the book about the whale, and had moved on to another that concerned the life of a young dolphin who had to migrate with his school of friends. Clutching a blue stuffed fish, she sat mesmerized in the corner, completely unaware of the time. The bus was fifteen minutes away before Sarah realized that they had forgotten Helena.

        And thus commenced a frantic headcount of the students on the bus, the screeching of wheels turning 180 degrees around, and a  “ _Shit she’s gonna be so mad at me!_ ” from Sarah.

        Helena was found forty minutes later curled up in the same corner surrounded by a large amount of opened sweets. Many of them were already eaten. The store clerk looked uncomfortably around before declaring that they would have to be paid for. Helena proudly declared that she had no money all the while looking pointedly at Sarah. There was a very long, very drawn-out silence before a very defeated looking Sarah Manning slowly removed her wallet from her coat pocket. 

        “Yes sestra!” Helena looked gleeful, holding up the blue stuffed toy, “I also want fish!” Sarah shot her another long, regretful look before forking over all of her money.

        “You’re short about twelve dollars”

        Sarah gave him a look that could have shattered granite, before turning to Tony, “Pay me for the pot.” The clerk looked extremely uncomfortable during this entire exchange as Tony rummaged around in his pocket before pulling out a crumpled five dollar bill. He handed it to Sarah before reaching into his other pocket and pulling out several quarters. After thrusting a handful at the cashier he once again reached into his pockets, producing an astounding amount of nickels and dimes. The cashier refused to look at any of them while he counted the change, before silently pointing to the door. 

        The ride back to campus was a silent one, full of stony silence interrupted intermittently by muffled giggles as Cosima and Tony each tried to imitate the cashier’s change counting face.

** **

**Part 3: First Shift**

 ** **

“Damn right we need to talk. Also can you punch me so I wake up?” Tony was still unsure that he didn’t just fall asleep at Sarah’s and this was just a trippy dream.

“I assure you this is no dream,” Felix pulled Tony back into the gas station, “better place to talk. It’s warmer.” 

“First question, why the fuck did you bite me?”

Felix looked remarkably uncomfortable, as a blush colored his cheeks. “Well, I had just come from a party, you see. It was a very fun party. There were substances involved.”

“You were  _high_ . You bit me  _because you were high_. ” Tony glared at him, “ And it was like seven or something at night. Who the fuck leaves a party that early?”

“Ah. Well it was more of late. It was quite a long party, and I felt a shift coming on, yeah? I mean, I could have, under normal circumstances, resisted the urge, but my inhibitions were lowered. I felt it best to exit before nightfall.”

“Well shit. So I’m a what, a werewolf now?”

“Maybe. Your body didn’t reject the bite, so probably, yeah,” Felix pulls a candy bar off the shelf, “want one?”

“Doncha’ have to pay for those?”

“Oh I just charge extra to the customers, so my boss doesn’t get suspicious. How are you feeling?” Felix paused like he is remembering something important, “I only ask because if you’ve had blackouts, vomiting, extreme fatigue, other bad things your body is probably rejecting the bite, and that’s bad. Like real bad. But you seem to be fine. I just want to check.”

        “Uh, I mean besides the bite  _hurting_ it’s been fine,” Tony looked out the window, the moon only a shade from being full. “So when does it start, ‘cause I forgot, but I remember now it was a full moon when you bit me, and it felt all tingly and shit.”

        “That’s good. The tingly thing. It doesn’t stop though, so I hope you liked it. It’ll probably start this month or next, it has an incubation period before anything actually happens. That’s why I contacted you about the jacket. Though I was expecting you to actually give your number,” he looked hurt, “ I could have prepared you over the phone, instead of going in for shock value.”

        “Oh yea. My phone got thrown in a pool because of, uh, something. Cosima’s cool though.” Tony leaned against the counter, “So what can I expect? ‘Cause what you did looked awesome, but it also looked like it hurt.”

        “Oh, it’s going to hurt, a lot, but the more you do it the less of an issue it is. It’s gonna start on the full moon, but with practice you can basically do it whenever.” Felix paused, “It’s kinda something that’s hard to explain. Full moon is in three days, I mean there’s a lot I actually can’t prepare you for, so the experience is going to be weird no matter what. I have to head out of town for week starting tomorrow, so I won’t be able to actually be around when you shift.” He fidgeted nervously with the candy bar wrapper, “But Cosima has my number so if you have any problems you can call.”

        “Speaking of Cosima,” Tony considered the question before continuing, “Is it bad to tell her? Like she’s already asking why you called-”

        “I mean, I’d normally say no, but I can’t be there when you shift so, I guess it’s okay, just make sure she doesn’t tell anyone else. Also don’t get caught.”

        “Okay. Thanks for the jacket, uh, I should  _probably not_ get caught out of bed by my parents, so, you know.” 

        “When I get back,” Felix blushed, “I mean I work here from twelve to four most mornings, so, see you around.”

        Tony swung around, hand on the doorframe, “Why are you here so late?”

        “Gives me a place to be during shifts.”

        Tony smirked, slapped the doorframe, “Later doggie.”

        Laughing under his breath, Felix ate another candy bar before checking on the truck outside the station. It was gone. He pushed away a pulse of anxiety before sitting back behind the counter, music pounding in his ears.

~*~

There was no wind in the park, and yet the leaves still danced lazily on the smooth concrete. Cosima swung back, pushing her legs against the ground before releasing herself to gravity. “ Shit! Watch out there Cos, you almost hit me in the head!” Tony ducked swiftly, tripping over his own legs. 

“Maybe I was _trying_ to hit you,” she teased as she swung back and forth, finally at the top of the arc she jumped, landing in a pile of jumbled limbs.

“ _Shit_ I said watch it Cos, I already got a fucked up leg because of some shit, I don’t need a cracked skull as well.” Tony scrambled backward, glancing at the disapproving couple who were quickly ushering their small children away from the park. 

“Duuuude. You were the one who wanted to come out here tonight,” Cosima had switched positions, and now lay with her back to the swing seat, hands tracing quick patterns in the air. Tony had decided if anyone was to be there for his first ‘shift’ it would be Cosima, but he hadn’t told her. Not yet. Besides, he was sure the surprise would be  _funny_ .

The hours passed quickly, the sky darkening. They had moved from the play structure to a tall sturdy tree. Tony sat on the branch above Cosima who was carefully picking apart tree leaves while filling him in on their english teacher’s reaction to them shifting everything on her desk five inches to the right. “So then, like, she reached over for a pen right? But she missed by like six inches. I mean, she didn’t just miss, she kept grabbing at empty space. It was awesome. Also, like, I switched all her folders, so she couldn’t give us the test because I switched the folder with the right one with the one for the film lit class and then she got really mad, like super pissed. She’s so _not_ chill though, I mean Beth just forgot her essay at home, she didn’t accidentally set off a nuke or something like-”

_Crack._ A lightning bolt of pain shot itself down Tony’s spine. “Arghhh!”  _Crack._ Another flash of pain lanced from his fingertips up to his shoulder. “Shit,” he gasped, toppling off the tree branch and hitting the ground hard, his knee taking the brunt of the impact. 

        Cosima starts, jumping down, “Holy shitballs,” she grabbed his shoulder, “dude are you okay?”

        He couldn't answer as his left leg,  _the leg that was bitten_ starts to burn, sending shockwaves that seemed to tear through muscle and tendon. His knee jerked uncontrollably as  crack crack crack  sounded throughout his body. Tony’s hands furrowed into his hair as a white hot flash of pain flared through his right temple.  _Shit, shit, shit, shit._ He rose back onto his legs, still hunched over before ramming head first into Cosima.  _Sorry. Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, shit, fuck, shit-_

        “Dude, shit, what’s going on?” Cosima yelled as she dodged his next wild charge, “Are you on some kind of drug?” 

        Tony dropped back on his knees, fingers untangling from his hair. “I just,”  _shit_ , “I forgot to tell you,”  _fuck._ His voice was falling, roughening, turning into a growl, “That bite wasn’t from a dog,” he coughed, hands grasping at his shirts, fingers finding the collar of the outermost one and  _ripping._ The buttons flew sideways as Tony finally freed himself from it, hands once again crawling upward and affixing to his neck which had suddenly snapped to the side.  _Crrrrack_ . He pitched forward, shoulder slamming into the dirt, knees jerking, fingers curling. The last thing he saw before everything went black was the rising moon: taunting,  _taunting_ .

_ _

_Interlude 3: Moonlit Venture(Into the Mind of a Beast)_

 __

        His eyes fixed on the round orb that hung suspended in the sky, his eyes tingling as the orb seemed to grow, inflate, fill his vision and his mind. The feeling washed over him, pushing the pain under, dampening it, making him almost numb. Thoughts flowed in and out of his mind like flying fish jumping above the waves. He felt something akin to freedom in the way his breath pulsed in and out with the strength of the tide.  _Emotions_ . Strong, like the current of a river newly freed from a dam.  Overflowing . He breathed deeply, the breeze slowly ruffling his ears, making his spine tingle. With effort, he managed to pry his gaze away from the taunting light above and focused on what was in front of him. The colors and shapes seemed to shift and expand with each beat of his heart, then contract in time with his breath. His senses were razor sharp, each twitch of grass or flap of wings drew his attention, eyes widening at every new sensation. He turned in a circle, erratic, trying to focus on a single sound, smell, feeling. He found the moon. And he  _ran_ . his legs(arms?) pounded on the ground as he ran, cutting through the night smoother than a knife through butter. His head tipped back, he shouted in elation at this freedom. The wind should have been cold as it hit him, but he could only feel the current as it smoothed his fur and sped his step. He leaped forward, and with each pulse of his heart the moon drew closer, closer,  _closer._

** **

**Part 4: Aftermath**

 ****

        His head hurt. A lot. That was Tony’s first thought as consciousness slowly filtered back into his mind. He slowly opened his eyes, and it felt like a spike was being repeatedly hammered into his temple. His second thought was  _everything hurts_.  He struggled to sit up, eventually conceding to simply lean on his elbows.  He strained his ears, trying to discern his surroundings but his ears didn’t seem to be working correctly. He could sense the vague rustling of wood chips and grass beneath him, and the far off hoot of an owl. His head pounded once more before he finally collapsed back onto the ground. Tony’s eyes caught the stars above, and he simply stared for what seemed like an eternity before finally rolling over on the cool damp ground and forcing himself up.

_Fuck._ His clothes.

        Where. The. Fuck. He panicked, rising to his feet and hitting his head on a low branch. He quickly tried to take stock of his surroundings. It was still night, and Cosima was nowhere to be seen. Shit. He was in some kind of park, but not the playground he remembered being in with Cosima… Fuck.  _Fuck_ _._ He knew where he was. As soon as Tony realized this he heard a loud whoop from behind him. He swiftly crept behind the tree as he spied Sarah Manning, Beth Childs and another boy, (Caleb? Callum?) run past, liquor in hand.  _Drinking on school grounds_ Tony thought, amused. If  _Beth Childs_ was still awake then it couldn’t be that late. He cursed his luck  again before beginning the cold trek back to Cosima’s house.

~*~

        Tony snuck in quietly, checking the clock. 2 AM. He quietly grabbed some clothes from the front hall closet before slipping into her room. Luckily the WiFi was on, and before long he was illegally downloading all the episodes to Cosima’s least favorite TV show to her laptop. He was just putting the finishing touches on a badly photoshopped desktop background(starring him, with a guest appearance by Sarah Manning’s head on a carrot) when Cosima slammed through the door, flustered and muttering about the wind. She slumped down on her bed, head snapping up when she noticed Tony. “The fuck Tony?” She scrambled forward, pulling him away from her laptop, “Are you wearing  my _Dad’s_ clothes? And what did you do to my laptop?”

        Tony attempted to speak through his laughter, “Hey Cos, fancy seein’ you here,” He abruptly fell off the desk chair as Cosima pushed him aside, frantically starting a security scan, “Also… have you seen my clothes?”

        She rolled her eyes as she turned away from the desk. “They’re out back, but, like, I wouldn’t recommend wearing them again. They’re kinda totally trashed.”

        Tony groaned, laying back onto the floor, “I _just_ got that jacket back.” 

“Dude. Mind explaining what was going on? Like, that was not normal. And I’m like 90% sure I wasn’t tripping. I mean, it was cool and all, but also like  _what the fuck_ .”

        “I got bit by the gas station boy,” Tony glanced at Cosima, “Felix, ’member? Yeah. He was, uh I guess he was tripping and bit me? Werewolf style.”

        “I knew that was too big to be a dog!” Cosima looked triumphant, “But like, that looked like it hurt. Also, where was he? If I was a werewolf and bit someone, I would wanna be there when they shifted? Just to soothe their friend who just happens to be there and might be freaking out because it looks like their friend is having a seizure.” Her hands were flying in seemingly random patterns, “I mean, that was really cool. Like the science behind it. I don’t even know how that would work. You have to stay basically the same size, because science, but like, also totally change anatomy and all-”

        Tony pushed himself up, Cosima’s voice fading into the background. “I’m tired, Cos. Save the sciencing for when we're all awake?”

        “Fine. But you gotta put my Dad’s clothes back.”

~*~

Tony was awoken by Cosima shaking him. "You have a call."

       He rolled over and pressed the phone to his ear, "Hello?"

       "Um, hi. Felix here," Tony heard shuffling, "So how was it?"

       "Painful."

       "Ah, well, it gets easier the more you do it." Felix paused, "I'm back in town next week, so do you want to learn how to shift without the full moon?"

        Tony chuckled, "That'd be great." 

   _What'd he say?_ Cosima mouthed.

        Tony coved the phone with a hand before grinning, "I have a date next week." He turned his attention back to his phone, ignoring Cosima's laugh of approval. This was gonna be fun.


End file.
